


Zoom Purgatory

by breatheforeverypart



Series: Hawkeye & The Barton Family [8]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Ableism, American Sign Language, Autistic Leo Fitz, COVID-19, Deaf Clint Barton, Disability Pride, Quarantine times, adopted family, virtual learning struggles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:41:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29110245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breatheforeverypart/pseuds/breatheforeverypart
Summary: Follows my 'Distance Doesn't Make the Learning Better' sorry in my Hawkeye series.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Laura Barton
Series: Hawkeye & The Barton Family [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758646
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Zoom Purgatory

***

“Nat, why is Fitz’s school requesting a Zoom meeting, ASAP?” Clint stretched both arms over his head and twisted his head from side to side. He had a crazy knot in his neck from dozing in the rocking chair. 

Laura groaned from the kitchen table, but remained otherwise silent. All the kids were either sleeping or engaged in covert operations. At least the house was quiet enough for Laura to nod off every couple of minutes. 

Clint scrolled through the e-mailed meeting request. “At the ungodly hour of 7:30. Virtual sessions don’t start until 9. Even that’s just morning meeting.” They usually skipped that. It didn’t count for any grades and even the teachers were just drinking coffee and double checking their internet connections. 

“That’s not good.” Clint winced and extended an arm to his partner. He looked sympathetically at his wife. “Not even a little bit.” 

Laura’s eyes closed involuntarily and her hands supported her lolling head. She jerked awake without making a sound. 

“Whatever you did please…fix it. Cooper didn’t sleep, lately he’s like the baby from the second Incredibles movie.” 

He blew out a breath and brought his phone over to the doorway where Nat had posed herself. “So, I didn’t sleep and Laura’s in a zombie state of mind that can’t be touched with our strongest coffee.” 

Considering midnight was less than two hours away, Natasha thought coffee was a bad idea for anyone to ingest. But Clint probably didn’t care for that opinion. 

“If I wasn’t breastfeeding, I’d eat the grounds.” Laura mumbled through a mouth numb with exhaustion. Her teeth ached from the amount of grinding she had been doing on a nightly basis. A month after Cooper had been born, her mouthguard had splintered. There had been no time to replace the stupid thing. 

Clint raised his eyebrows by way of explanation to Nat. 

Look at this woman we love, he scrunched his nose in frustration and attempted telepathic communication with Natasha. She is the center of our chaotic life. Please help me make things suck a little less around here. 

Fine, but they weren’t going to like to hear what she did. Natasha folded her arms over her chest and hunched her shoulders. “I may have threatened his therapist.” She admitted quietly. 

Laura yawned and scratched her scalp with the antennae of the baby monitor. She was awake enough to cope with a crisis. That was her superpower. “Which one?” 

Tempers were running hot at work and home. Quarantined teachers and students were a volatile combination, especially when both relied on spotty internet connections. 

“Aw, no.” Clint added. 

“The one that tries to force him to communicate with his mouth.” Venom dripped from Natasha’s words. She lightly knocked her head against the wooden frame. Such a stupid decision. Clint’s influence had made her impulsive. 

“Nat.” Clint interrupted. He had a long and storied history with speech language pathologists. “They’re trying to help. It’s their job.” Natasha sensed a lecture looming, but the women in his life were not in the mood for that kind of discourse. 

Not tonight. It was a conversation that the family had engaged in, many times over the years. Ableism was a recurring character in the drama that revolved around the Barton family. 

Laura sucked her teeth, then grit them audibly. “Go on.” 

“I amended his ‘about me’ folder.” She explained. 

Clint frowned. The app the school paid for cost nearly $100 and could be edited and customized to best fit the needs of each student. Fitz’s had undergone as many renovations as the farmhouse had since the family had taken ownership. 

The last time their daughters had gotten ahold of Fitz’s school-sanctioned tablet, they had taken some interesting pictures. “There’s nothing…scandalous, is there?” 

The posed shots of Lila with a sparkly purple feather boa wrapped around her neck nearly made Laura pee her pad lined underwear. Skye and Jemma had spent an hour re-labeling all the members of Fitz’s support network is his communication app. 

They had even replaced Fitz’s sad excuse for a school photo with one of him smiling in Bruce’s lab. A wave of pride rained down on him for his daughters. They loved Fitz. They loved him for who he was. And he was an amazing kid. 

She opened the app on the iPad that Natasha had handed her. A smiling Fitz in the arms of Dr. Banner greeted her. There was nothing wrong with the automated voice that said “My name is Fitz. I am autistic. I love science and playing with Uncle Bruce.” It was perfect. 

Her oldest son had come so far. Fitz had come to trust his life in their house. He made her laugh and built amazing structures out of anything and everything. 

His regression brought her to tears on more than one occasion in the six plus months of quarantine. It had been early in the pandemic when he’d stopped sleeping regular hours. The lack of routine and new baby wreaked havoc with the everyone. 

Total anarchy had ruled while Laura struggled with post-partum life and the rest of the family grappled with a terrifying new reality. Thank goodness for Auntie Nat and grocery delivery services. 

“What did you change?” Laura asked. 

“Fix.” Natasha corrected, her voice soft. “I made a button that said ‘I am autistic.’” 

Clint looked between his wife and Natasha. “What’s wrong with that?” He took the tablet that Laura held out to him. He tapped the button and listened. 

“Person-first language.” Laura set the monitor on the table and pulled her hair into a ponytail. That meant business. Apparently, naptime was over for her. Adrenaline worked better than her favorite tea. 

“What?”

“Capitol D-Deaf, versus lowercase d-deaf.” Laura explained, signing as she spoke. 

Clint chewed on his lower lip. Labels weren’t super high on his list of things to know. He preferred to hold random pieces of trivia, like the escape antics of octopuses. Ableist attitudes were a real bummer of a conversation. 

“Skye and I’ve…this shouldn’t be a complicated issue. Deafness isn’t a disability. My parents raised me to see myself as less than everyone else.” He paused, unsure of whether or not he wanted to talk about his confounding past. “They were abusive, small-minded and traumatized themselves, but I’m learning to accept myself and all my…you know.” 

Laura entwined their fingers and squeezed her husband’s hand. “You’re you. Perfectly you. So are all of our kids.” 

He smiled at her, face flushed with embarrassment. “Fitz is loved enough for Auntie Nat to make his teachers and therapists poop their pants.” For now, everything would be addressed in the morning. 

“Thanks?” Natasha padded into the kitchen in a pair of Skye’s fuzzy socks. The outrageous pattern of cartoonish woodland creatures made her smile. 

“Listen, Miss Kristen will get over it.” Laura tried to sound reassuring, but her words probably came out more aggressive than she meant them to. “I’ll e-mail Jess tomorrow before the conference tomorrow morning. I’ll explain, she listens to reason. Kristen gets pretty emotional, she’ll settle eventually.” 

“Really?” Natasha hated how vulnerable she sounded. “You could use an hour or two in bed. Without anyone bothering you.” 

Laura waved off Nat’s concern. “Eh, it was just a micro-nap. I’m an expert. Remember I used to be a full-time ER nurse, in the ‘before’ times.” 

“There is no limit to your skills.” Clint bowed respectfully. 

The remark stung, but Laura appreciated his attempt at reverent humor. “Don’t you forget it, babe.” 

Natasha cleared her throat and motioned to the table. “I’m not in trouble?” 

“No!” Laura pushed herself away from the table. “You fight for all of us. I know you.” She opened her arms and waited for Nat to respond. 

Wordlessly, Natasha allowed herself to relax into familiar arms. Laura’s heartbeat thrummed a rhythm that dulled her anxiety. 

“He’s lucky to have you kicking the world’s ass for him.” Clint smiled at her and impulsively ruffled her hair. 

“Seriously? Your best support talk is about butts?!” Laura pulled her husband into the hug, creating an oddly comforting sort of trio. 

“Um.” Natasha patted Clint’s arm as he cuddled two of the most important people in his life. His displays of emotions ran a colorful spectrum of intensity. As far as hugs went, this one ranked pretty normal on the scale. 

“Thanks for letting me.” The words were directed at Natasha. She wouldn’t accept his gratitude, but maybe one day the words would breach her defenses. 

Clint snuck a grab at Laura’s butt and kissed her cheek. “Now, go get yourselves in bed. I’ll get all the tablets charging and set the coffee to brew in a couple hours.” 

Laura gave him a thumbs-up. “Ah. Thanks, dear. Our littlest scientist will be up in a couple hours. Cooper might be trying to gnaw on his fingers as we speak.” She returned the favor before tugging Natasha towards the stairs. “Love you, bubba. Double check the locks for us?” 

“Thank you.” Natasha added. Her gratitude spanned more than the thoughtful caffeine-related prep, but Clint caught the coded meaning. “Leave the blocks out of your clean-up okay? He likes to builds when he wakes up.” 

“You got it.” Clint saluted her and grinned like a lovesick puppy. “Nighty-night.” 

***

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Look out for a new multi-chapter story that deals with Wanda coming next week. Please feel free to reach out on tumblr. 
> 
> My name there is breatheforeverypart or comment through any of my fics on here.


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